Code switching and the future of the Welsh language
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Margaret Deuchar
Abstract
In this article we argue that Alan Thomas's (1982) ideas about the linguistic conditions for language death were ahead of his time, and in fact anticipated those of a prominent code-switching theorist, Myers-Scotton (1998). Both scholars postulated similar stages representing language shift, and both could be interpreted as presenting a scenario for language shift in Welsh–English bilinguals towards monolingualism in English. The ideas of the two scholars are tested empirically by our analysis of a sample of Welsh–English data in order to determine whether or not the linguistic conditions favouring language shift or language death can be found. Our analysis shows that the data are clearly at the first stage, classic code-switching in Myers-Scotton's (1998) terms, with Welsh providing the main grammatical frame, while English provides some content words and phrases. We argue that this stage is associated with stable bilingualism, especially if the socio-political circumstances favour that stability. We then present evidence that the recent socio-political climate has favoured the revitalization of Welsh, and suggest that there is no cause for pessimism about the future of Welsh, although “eternal vigilance” is necessary.
© 2009 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin
Articles in the same Issue
- Preface
- In memoriam: Alan Richard Thomas
- Introduction: a critical approach to the revitalisation of Welsh
- Code switching and the future of the Welsh language
- Bilingual literacy in and for working lives on the land: case studies of young Welsh speakers in North Wales
- Language attitudes and identity in a North Wales town: “something different about Caernarfon”?
- Accommodating “new” speakers? An attitudinal investigation of L2 speakers of Welsh in south-east Wales
- Issues of gender and parents' language values in the minority language socialisation of young children in Wales
- How green is their valley? Subjective vitality of Welsh language and culture in the Chubut Province, Argentina
- Diasporic ethnolinguistic subjectivities: Patagonia, North America, and Wales
- Commentary: the primacy of renewal
- The straw that broke the language's back: language shift in the Upper Necaxa Valley of Mexico
Articles in the same Issue
- Preface
- In memoriam: Alan Richard Thomas
- Introduction: a critical approach to the revitalisation of Welsh
- Code switching and the future of the Welsh language
- Bilingual literacy in and for working lives on the land: case studies of young Welsh speakers in North Wales
- Language attitudes and identity in a North Wales town: “something different about Caernarfon”?
- Accommodating “new” speakers? An attitudinal investigation of L2 speakers of Welsh in south-east Wales
- Issues of gender and parents' language values in the minority language socialisation of young children in Wales
- How green is their valley? Subjective vitality of Welsh language and culture in the Chubut Province, Argentina
- Diasporic ethnolinguistic subjectivities: Patagonia, North America, and Wales
- Commentary: the primacy of renewal
- The straw that broke the language's back: language shift in the Upper Necaxa Valley of Mexico
